A golf course bunker is a deliberately positioned hazard on a golf course that is designed to increase the difficulty of playing on a golf course. A bunker is best described as being an area of ground on the course from which turf and soil have been removed to create a substantially sized hollow. The removed turf and soil is replaced with sand. Bunkers on a golf course are commonly located near greens, but can also be located alongside fairways. Bunkers are also commonly referred to as “sand traps” or just “traps”.
Due to physical characteristics of a bunker, a large hollow in the ground, they are more susceptible to poor rainwater drainage than other parts of a golf course. For instance, rain on a fairway generally tends to be dispersed over a large area that is relatively flat or is slightly inclined or undulating. The benefit of this is that most rain (with the exception of the heaviest downpours) tends to be dispersed reasonably quickly. In contrast, however, because of the hollowed out nature of bunkers rainwater tends to collect at the bottom of the bunkers requiring considerable time to drain away naturally.
As a consequence of the additional time required for rainwater to drain from bunkers it is not uncommon for bunkers to be “taken out of play” while the bunkers dry out, which detracts from the playing experience of the golf course.
In order to minimize the time that bunkers are “taken out of play” drainage systems can be installed into the bunkers. Existing drainage systems can improve the rate at which rainwater is drained from the bunkers to reduce the amount of time bunkers are taken out of play. However, existing drainage systems used in bunkers regularly become blocked as sand from the bunker is drawn into the drainpipe. Some existing drainage systems seek to address the problem of sand blockages by using a small aperture for allowing water to enter and be drained away while restricting entry of sand, but the smaller aperture reduces water flow requiring more time to drain the bunker. When drainpipes become blocked with sand not only does that have a detrimental impact on the rate at which rainwater is drained from the bunker, it imposes additional workload on grounds staff whom are required to disassemble the drainage system and remove the sand.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved drainage system that can be installed into golf course bunkers and which are not susceptible to regular blockage that occurs when sand enters the drainpipes.
It is to be understood that, if any prior art is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the prior art forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.